Christopher.Collins

In no particular order (except the first one): *Marry my girl (cuz hell either of us could die at any given second) *Lose 50lbs *Get my private pilots license / fly a plane (again) *Sky dive *Be an astronaut on a shuttle mission (not when anyone can start going in the near future on some dumb little thing that dosnt go really fast and have lots of fuel and two huge rockets strapped to it :twisted: ). *Restore my '89 Grand Marquis... including custom paint/airbrush tributes to Fire/EMS/Police/Military/Columbia/Challenger *Be in a movie (dont have to star, would settle for supporting) *Work as a flight medic or nurse *Finally get a damn tattoo *Get my Paramedic license *Get a bachelors degree in EMS *Teach EMS and maybe public education on EMS *Teach children/teens *Maybe write a book... but who knows what Id have to write about *Do something to support or work for the Army as a civillian since I was discharged for medical reasons *Invent some revolutionary EMS tool... I mean come on, that hand restraint thing? Anyone coulda made that simple device... kudos and power to the one who did it first

*How long has she been experiencing this onset (excluding the back pain x2 days)? *Provokes / what if anything makes more comfortable? 1/10 scale *Onset/provoke, location/radiation of the back pain? 1/10 scale *Any follow ups since treatment for the UTI? If so results/info? *Last vomit... how did it present? *Blood in stool, urine, vomitt? (If any output or on attempt) *(If a hospital) Why is patient being transferred? *Last visit to PCP, any known information from visit *Any known liver problems (not given in history but perhaps its something new awaiting test results)? *Monitor vitals (full work up including EKG) and (compare if taken by facility or first responders). If a nursing home (or other non-emergency facility) any info on patients normal mental status and vitals *Bring family member (in regards to mobey's comment on if patient is reliable for info) *If patient is not being transfferred to a hospital, reccomend that we do so (Ive brought people to dialysiss appts. that shouldnt have been at a simple dialysiss facility). Transport Code 3 if any signs/symptoms appear to be severe or jaundice is new (beyond simple abdominal pain as hx may be irrellivant to this case) ~~~~~ Ive flat out taken the word routine out of my dictionary. I dont blame dispatch, its not always there fault... but I feel your pain. Im sure we all do. I get a call to a nursing home; the usual fall and "lift assist only." Ummm ok they just wanted a lift assist for an obvious tib-fib break in which the foot was 90 degrees in the wrong direction.

I had recently applied to a commercial service in my area and they seemed interested in taking me in. Hell, I was willing to make a 1hr (one way) drive to work to get this job. Anyways I have worked with other companies before and have been in EMS for the past 5 years... I have no problem with lifting or anything related. Well occasionally going backwards up stairs sucks. Anyways I passed the pre-employment physical with flying colors and thought I did fairly well on the lift test. Most of it was lifting weights into and out of two wooden boxes and lifting the boxes. Lifts totaled 50-200lbs. No problem. I had to lift some weights as well on a machine which was no problem at the end the physical therapist said "thats as close as we can to simulating a stretcher" in which I shot back "but its NOT a stretcher". But then there was a grip test where I had to clench my fists around some stupid gauge... which I failed. So I get a letter a week later saying thanks but no thanks, you didnt meet our physical requirements. In which I responded (POLITLEY and proffesionally)... thanks, i drove 200 miles for nothing, the lift tests were not comparable by any means to the real job, my last job did in house lift testing with real equipment and EMS evaluators which i passed, ive been in ems with no problem for 5 years with extensive work with berriatric patients... etc. I dont blame them for not hiring me... if I didnt meet their standards then I didnt plain and simple. But the lift tests were just not comparable by any means. A set of "average" numbers written on a card dosnt nessecarilly mean a damn thing... and thoes of us in this line of work know that.